EXAMINING TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATED HIGHER ORDER THINKING PRACTICES AT TITLE I PUBLIC MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Abstract

Technology has the capacity to support learning, promote higher-order thinking, and perpetuate 21st-century skills. However, these skills are often lacking in K-12 public schools, particularly in low-income settings. Low-income students often interact with technology in ways that reinforce low-level thinking, while students in economically advantaged schools tend to use technology in higher-order ways. These disparate uses of technology have resulted in and continue to result in stratified learning experiences. To address this issue, this explanatory sequential mixed methods study aimed to better understand how Title I middle school teachers use technology to promote higher-order thinking (HOT) while revealing innovative, exemplary teaching practices. Findings from phase one suggested that Title I middle school teachers’ technology practices hover at the lower tiers of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. However, phase two findings offered a more optimistic outlook, whereby varying teacher roles helped make way for targeted, individualized student support, thereby promoting higher levels of cognition. Findings also suggested that higher-order technology use practices, when supported by an instructional approach comprised of a carefully structured learning process and a student-centered environment, helped lead to the creation of student-generated higher-order thinking products. These practices, made possible by Title I middle school teachers’ values and ability beliefs surrounding the benefits of integration, emphasized a willingness to try, continuously evolving in practice, and the ability to overcome obstacles. This study has powerful implications for educators, policymakers, curriculum designers, and students as it helps shift the narrative around teachers’ practices in low-income settings and may serve as an impetus for change.